I played live Omaha for the first time this weekend. I arrived at the casino and the $1/$2 NL tables had a waiting list while the $1/$1 mixed game had just 4 people. So I took a seat at $1/$1.
The $1/$1 game is mixed alternating between PLO and hold'em. It was a good game live PLO. It was fun and Omaha seemed to play friendlier than NL hold'em. There are some things to get used to. Everyone, including regulars, was constantly rechecking their cards during the hand. I often had trouble even picking up the cards to look at them, it's a lot harder with 4 cards. I'll work on that at home a bit.
Being new I just bought in for the minimum, $40. Not much interesting happened. Lots of folding, a few playable hands. I made quads one hand, didn't end up showing. I ended up winning a modest amount over 2 hours without getting stacked, though I was all in on a couple of occasions.
It was a lot of fun I had wanted to get in some $1/$1 sessions to get in some live PLO play on the road to my horizon.
Monday, October 22, 2012
moving up PLO
I completed the $0.02/$0.05 stage of PLO. I ran very well over the small sample of 500 hands finishing up several buyins.
$0.02/$0.05 PLO on Stars was a bit different. There's hardly any FR scene to speak of. Also Zoom isn't available. So that leaves 6 max. I came to like 6 max there's lots of action without being too shorthanded. Of course it helps to be running so well.
So according to plan the next stop is $0.05/$0.10 PLO. At that level there's the enjoyable Zoom available. I should try to balance that with some full ring play as well. I'll see what's on Stars but I'm not opposed to making a small deposit and opening up a second site as well. Again the plan is 500 hands with some profit.
$0.02/$0.05 PLO on Stars was a bit different. There's hardly any FR scene to speak of. Also Zoom isn't available. So that leaves 6 max. I came to like 6 max there's lots of action without being too shorthanded. Of course it helps to be running so well.
So according to plan the next stop is $0.05/$0.10 PLO. At that level there's the enjoyable Zoom available. I should try to balance that with some full ring play as well. I'll see what's on Stars but I'm not opposed to making a small deposit and opening up a second site as well. Again the plan is 500 hands with some profit.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Pot-Limit Omaha Understanding Winning Play by William Jockusch
I finished reading another poker book it was Pot-Limit Omaha Understanding Winning Play by William Jockusch.
It was a good book, very enlightening. Jockusch takes a thorough approach to explaining the key concepts of PLO. The layout of the book reminds me of Hold em Poker for Advanced Players which is fine with me. The author understands that most of the readers will be people like me coming over from hold 'em.
I was pretty clueless about PLO going in. I learned a lot from this book it was a great treatment of PLO for the players coming in from other forms of poker. There's a quiz at the end which was helpful and illustrates the concepts and how they apply to different stack sizes.
There's a lot in there and I will cycle back and read it again. This is a very good PLO book from 2+2 and I recommend it.
It was a good book, very enlightening. Jockusch takes a thorough approach to explaining the key concepts of PLO. The layout of the book reminds me of Hold em Poker for Advanced Players which is fine with me. The author understands that most of the readers will be people like me coming over from hold 'em.
I was pretty clueless about PLO going in. I learned a lot from this book it was a great treatment of PLO for the players coming in from other forms of poker. There's a quiz at the end which was helpful and illustrates the concepts and how they apply to different stack sizes.
There's a lot in there and I will cycle back and read it again. This is a very good PLO book from 2+2 and I recommend it.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
moving up pot-limit Omaha
I completed my objective to play 500 hands of $0.01/$0.02 PLO. I ended up winning around 10 BB / 100 over the small sample size.
It was fun my first time playing PLO. I seemed to run well often getting Aces and good hands holding up after the flop. There are some weak areas to work on including overvaluing KK both before and on the flop, blind defense, and evaluating my equity on the flop in short stack all in situations.
I mostly played FR but I did want to try Zoom on PokerStars. What a blast Zoom is. Great implementation, it was fun to play. I'll definitely play Zoom at the coming levels.
It was fun my first time playing PLO. I seemed to run well often getting Aces and good hands holding up after the flop. There are some weak areas to work on including overvaluing KK both before and on the flop, blind defense, and evaluating my equity on the flop in short stack all in situations.
I mostly played FR but I did want to try Zoom on PokerStars. What a blast Zoom is. Great implementation, it was fun to play. I'll definitely play Zoom at the coming levels.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Project PLO
At my local casino there's a development the last few months. They introduced pot limit Omaha.
First it was $1/$1 PLO. A few weeks later it changed to $2/$5 PLO. PLO runs 8 handed. Interestingly PLO has basically displaced the $2/$5 no limit game that ran forever. $2/$5 NL seldom runs now while there's virtually always a $2/$5 PLO game.
While I still play $1/$2 NL I do still have this crazy dream to play $2/$5 someday. Well it looks like $2/$5 means $2/$5 PLO. Well this is a twist.
It took some getting used to but now I'm pretty much on board with it. I'm doing some reading (more on that later) and figured I'm ready to play some online. I've decided to start at the bottom of the heap, $0.01/$0.02 full ring. The plan is to play 500 hands at each level and move up when at any profit. I hope to reach $0.10/$0.25 PLO but we'll see. One level at a time. I got up to $25 NL back before the Americans left and the games weren't as good after that.
I'm not too worried about the micro stakes and taking it seriously. I just think of it as $1/$2 or 1/2 if you will.
From the first session this was the first interesting hand PLO hand I played. Buying in short while I get my bearings.
oh well. Over on propokertools I looked it up I was 63% preflop and 53% on the flop vs MP3. MP1 was a donk who raised pretty much every hand.
Didn't win a hand that first session. Next session I did win my first Omaha hand.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
SB ($1.76)
BB ($5)
UTG ($2.08)
UTG+1 ($1.08)
MP1 ($12.31)
MP2 ($2.17)
Hero (MP3) ($0.80)
CO ($1.98)
Button ($1.28)
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Kd, 6c, 2h, Kh
1 fold, UTG+1 (poster) checks, MP1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero (poster) bets $0.11, 2 folds, SB calls $0.10, 1 fold, UTG+1 (poster) calls $0.09, 1 fold
Flop: ($0.37) 6s, 6d, Jc (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.36, SB calls $0.36, 1 fold
Turn: ($1.09) 5c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.33 (All-In), SB calls $0.33
River: ($1.75) 7s (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $1.75 | Rake: $0.06
Results:
SB had 9h, Jd, Qd, 7d (two pair, Jacks and sevens).
Hero had Kd, 6c, 2h, Kh (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $1.69
In this case I was 85% on the flop and turn. Only 59% preflop. I don't know what the other guy was thinking. Chasing TP in Omaha often isn't a wise strategy. That was a break catching trips. Sometimes the side cards can also work for you.
First it was $1/$1 PLO. A few weeks later it changed to $2/$5 PLO. PLO runs 8 handed. Interestingly PLO has basically displaced the $2/$5 no limit game that ran forever. $2/$5 NL seldom runs now while there's virtually always a $2/$5 PLO game.
While I still play $1/$2 NL I do still have this crazy dream to play $2/$5 someday. Well it looks like $2/$5 means $2/$5 PLO. Well this is a twist.
It took some getting used to but now I'm pretty much on board with it. I'm doing some reading (more on that later) and figured I'm ready to play some online. I've decided to start at the bottom of the heap, $0.01/$0.02 full ring. The plan is to play 500 hands at each level and move up when at any profit. I hope to reach $0.10/$0.25 PLO but we'll see. One level at a time. I got up to $25 NL back before the Americans left and the games weren't as good after that.
I'm not too worried about the micro stakes and taking it seriously. I just think of it as $1/$2 or 1/2 if you will.
From the first session this was the first interesting hand PLO hand I played. Buying in short while I get my bearings.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
Button ($4.94)
SB ($4.24)
BB ($1.82)
UTG ($19.42)
UTG+1 ($4.33)
MP1 ($18.73)
Hero (MP2) ($0.69)
MP3 ($13.23)
CO ($5)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8s, Ad, Ac, 4h
2 folds, MP1 bets $0.07, Hero raises to $0.24, MP3 calls $0.24, 4 folds, MP1 calls $0.17
Flop: ($0.75) Qs, 7s, 8d (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $0.45 (All-In), MP3 calls $0.45, 1 fold
Turn: ($1.65) 5s (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: ($1.65) 9d (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $1.65 | Rake: $0.06
Results:
Hero had 8s, Ad, Ac, 4h (one pair, Aces).
MP3 had 5c, 10d, 9s, 5d (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: MP3 won $1.59
Button ($4.94)
SB ($4.24)
BB ($1.82)
UTG ($19.42)
UTG+1 ($4.33)
MP1 ($18.73)
Hero (MP2) ($0.69)
MP3 ($13.23)
CO ($5)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8s, Ad, Ac, 4h
2 folds, MP1 bets $0.07, Hero raises to $0.24, MP3 calls $0.24, 4 folds, MP1 calls $0.17
Flop: ($0.75) Qs, 7s, 8d (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $0.45 (All-In), MP3 calls $0.45, 1 fold
Turn: ($1.65) 5s (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: ($1.65) 9d (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $1.65 | Rake: $0.06
Results:
Hero had 8s, Ad, Ac, 4h (one pair, Aces).
MP3 had 5c, 10d, 9s, 5d (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: MP3 won $1.59
oh well. Over on propokertools I looked it up I was 63% preflop and 53% on the flop vs MP3. MP1 was a donk who raised pretty much every hand.
Didn't win a hand that first session. Next session I did win my first Omaha hand.
PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
SB ($1.76)
BB ($5)
UTG ($2.08)
UTG+1 ($1.08)
MP1 ($12.31)
MP2 ($2.17)
Hero (MP3) ($0.80)
CO ($1.98)
Button ($1.28)
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Kd, 6c, 2h, Kh
1 fold, UTG+1 (poster) checks, MP1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero (poster) bets $0.11, 2 folds, SB calls $0.10, 1 fold, UTG+1 (poster) calls $0.09, 1 fold
Flop: ($0.37) 6s, 6d, Jc (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.36, SB calls $0.36, 1 fold
Turn: ($1.09) 5c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.33 (All-In), SB calls $0.33
River: ($1.75) 7s (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $1.75 | Rake: $0.06
Results:
SB had 9h, Jd, Qd, 7d (two pair, Jacks and sevens).
Hero had Kd, 6c, 2h, Kh (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $1.69
In this case I was 85% on the flop and turn. Only 59% preflop. I don't know what the other guy was thinking. Chasing TP in Omaha often isn't a wise strategy. That was a break catching trips. Sometimes the side cards can also work for you.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
play and study time
A few months ago I bought two new poker books online. After a few weeks I noticed a distinct lack of progress in reading them.
I find it's very hard to read in the evening after work. by the time I get home I'm tired from work and there are always a hundred things to do at the apartment. so even when I attempt poker reading I've found it hard to focus and effectively cover much ground. worthwhile poker books aren't easy reading. they require a lot of thought and concentration. I buy poker books for information and concepts that I don't already know, or have not fully articulated and grasped.
so what to do? after a while an idea came to me. read during break time at work. this has turned out pretty well. at lunch time now for the last few weeks I've gone to my car to cover a few pages a day of the first book. I find during the day I'm much fresher and more alert and able to really think about what I'm reading. also it's a well defined time and place for poker reading with no distraction. finally I'm making steady progress and looking forward to finishing this book.
speaking of play time. I realized recently I haven't played a hand online in several months. ouch. Life happens I guess and poker will always be an enjoyable hobby that I can only spend what time is available for it on. online play just got dropped on the floor. but it is on my radar screen to resurface online, perhaps in some new form.
on the live scene. I still enjoy playing $1/$2 NL at the local card room. for a few months I attempted an experiment of playing on Thursdays pretty much every week, then on Friday/Saturdays when possible. that experiment ended unsuccessfully. the Thursday game has more regulars and is tougher than the weekend game and I lost money playing in it. so back to playing the softer Friday/Saturday live scene which I realized suits me fine. I play around 2-3 times a month now live.
there are more interesting things going on in poker for me just around the corner that I'm really excited about. I'm looking forward to posting these developments here.
I find it's very hard to read in the evening after work. by the time I get home I'm tired from work and there are always a hundred things to do at the apartment. so even when I attempt poker reading I've found it hard to focus and effectively cover much ground. worthwhile poker books aren't easy reading. they require a lot of thought and concentration. I buy poker books for information and concepts that I don't already know, or have not fully articulated and grasped.
so what to do? after a while an idea came to me. read during break time at work. this has turned out pretty well. at lunch time now for the last few weeks I've gone to my car to cover a few pages a day of the first book. I find during the day I'm much fresher and more alert and able to really think about what I'm reading. also it's a well defined time and place for poker reading with no distraction. finally I'm making steady progress and looking forward to finishing this book.
speaking of play time. I realized recently I haven't played a hand online in several months. ouch. Life happens I guess and poker will always be an enjoyable hobby that I can only spend what time is available for it on. online play just got dropped on the floor. but it is on my radar screen to resurface online, perhaps in some new form.
on the live scene. I still enjoy playing $1/$2 NL at the local card room. for a few months I attempted an experiment of playing on Thursdays pretty much every week, then on Friday/Saturdays when possible. that experiment ended unsuccessfully. the Thursday game has more regulars and is tougher than the weekend game and I lost money playing in it. so back to playing the softer Friday/Saturday live scene which I realized suits me fine. I play around 2-3 times a month now live.
there are more interesting things going on in poker for me just around the corner that I'm really excited about. I'm looking forward to posting these developments here.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
rake increase
Back in January there was an increase in rake at the local casino. It's now max $5, up from $4. Rake comes out at every $10 increment so now pots are rake free at the $50 mark instead of $40.
I got thinking about how this would affect the $1/$2 game. I estimate around 25 hands an hour are dealt. Of these say half of pots are $50 or more. So it's around another $12 an hour the house is taking off the table. ouch.
In terms of win rate. A tight player might win around 2 hands an hour on average. Of these maybe 1 would be $50+. So it might seem to cost $1 an hour in winrate.
However there is another effect and you lose money even on the hands you fold. There are a number of recreational players who buy in for say $60 or so. They are in a number of pots, up and down. If they bust they may reload once. If they build a large stack they may cash out. Once in a while a player will be able to stack one of these recreational players. Suppose you stack rec for his last $41 in some hand. That's nice to make $41. However by then rec may have won 2-3 bigger hands that would have been $5 raked. So his stack should have been around $44 when he busted. The house has taken money off the table that you otherwise would have won.
I'll estimate this effect costs regulars around $0.50 an hour. So together the rake increase would reduce expectation in $1/$2 by around $1.50 an hour. yikes.
--
I got thinking of an alternate calculation. The house is taking an extra $12 an hour off the table. At a 10 player game suppose the house gave each player $1.20 at the beginning of an hour. What happens after an hour? In an average hour winning players make money and losing players lose money. So a winning player may make say 15 cents off the $1.20 and losing players would turn the $1.20 into perhaps $1.00. So the profitable player would expect to have around $1.20 + $0.15 = $1.35. Which is another way to calculate the effect of the rake increase on winrate. This is fairly close to the amount calculated above.
It demonstrates that break even and winning players are more affected. Which makes sense. Recreational players tend to just play until they bust. So the effect on them is generally that they bust a bit sooner and regulars earn less profit on them busting out.
I got thinking about how this would affect the $1/$2 game. I estimate around 25 hands an hour are dealt. Of these say half of pots are $50 or more. So it's around another $12 an hour the house is taking off the table. ouch.
In terms of win rate. A tight player might win around 2 hands an hour on average. Of these maybe 1 would be $50+. So it might seem to cost $1 an hour in winrate.
However there is another effect and you lose money even on the hands you fold. There are a number of recreational players who buy in for say $60 or so. They are in a number of pots, up and down. If they bust they may reload once. If they build a large stack they may cash out. Once in a while a player will be able to stack one of these recreational players. Suppose you stack rec for his last $41 in some hand. That's nice to make $41. However by then rec may have won 2-3 bigger hands that would have been $5 raked. So his stack should have been around $44 when he busted. The house has taken money off the table that you otherwise would have won.
I'll estimate this effect costs regulars around $0.50 an hour. So together the rake increase would reduce expectation in $1/$2 by around $1.50 an hour. yikes.
--
I got thinking of an alternate calculation. The house is taking an extra $12 an hour off the table. At a 10 player game suppose the house gave each player $1.20 at the beginning of an hour. What happens after an hour? In an average hour winning players make money and losing players lose money. So a winning player may make say 15 cents off the $1.20 and losing players would turn the $1.20 into perhaps $1.00. So the profitable player would expect to have around $1.20 + $0.15 = $1.35. Which is another way to calculate the effect of the rake increase on winrate. This is fairly close to the amount calculated above.
It demonstrates that break even and winning players are more affected. Which makes sense. Recreational players tend to just play until they bust. So the effect on them is generally that they bust a bit sooner and regulars earn less profit on them busting out.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players
I read another poker book recently. It was Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players. True to its title it was advanced. I found it actually a bit lighter than Sklansky's Theory of Poker. I was a bit surprised when I read it. I didn't realize it was a limit hold'em book. TOP is about all forms of poker and for whatever reason I thought HEPFAP also was.
I always knew LHE was tricky and after this book I have a new appreciation for how hard it can be. I'm not sure how much I'll use the material. At my local card room there's seldom a limit game. There's $1/$2 and $2/$5 no limit and increasing PLO - note to self. I've been thinking I should better align my live and online play.
I've got some more poker reading to do this year. In addition HEPFAP made me realize the importance of rereading. Going over stuff I've read before. Going over my own game plan and strategies so I have them down pat at live game speed.
I always knew LHE was tricky and after this book I have a new appreciation for how hard it can be. I'm not sure how much I'll use the material. At my local card room there's seldom a limit game. There's $1/$2 and $2/$5 no limit and increasing PLO - note to self. I've been thinking I should better align my live and online play.
I've got some more poker reading to do this year. In addition HEPFAP made me realize the importance of rereading. Going over stuff I've read before. Going over my own game plan and strategies so I have them down pat at live game speed.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
live and online bankroll
I've been thinking about bankroll a bit lately. I was thinking of joining another site. I still like PokerStars but was thinking of branching out. Alas PlayNow isn't yet open outside BC so I'll have to wait a bit to see if that will evolve for the better.
In any case it got me thinking there's no good reason to have all of my online bankroll at Stars. Especially after what happened back in April.
So I joined the 7%. I made a withdraw from PokerStars. It was a modest withdraw. It was mainly to confirm the mechanics of how these work and to confirm that I can get to my funds. The transaction was processed extremely promptly by PokerStars and everything went through in Canada no problem. So well done Stars. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward.
So that was encouraging. When the money arrived I put it into my bank account that has my live bankroll. I will keep live and online br separate. I did transfer an amount equal to the wd from the live side to the online side. I plan to remove most of my Stars bankroll in the coming months, just leaving enough for the levels I play with enough to withstand a typical downswing. I still plan to play on Stars, in fact probably more with the "matching" contributions from the live bankroll side.
The nice thing about getting online bankroll into my own bank account is I can use the same backing money on multiple sites. For example suppose I want to play $10 MTT on PokerStars and PartyPoker. If I use a 1% guideline that would suggest having $1000 on both sites. However the common backing bankroll can be used on both sites. For example with $1000 in my online bankroll in my own bank account. I could have just $100 on Stars and Party and be properly rolled to play $10 MTT on both sites.
In any case it got me thinking there's no good reason to have all of my online bankroll at Stars. Especially after what happened back in April.
So I joined the 7%. I made a withdraw from PokerStars. It was a modest withdraw. It was mainly to confirm the mechanics of how these work and to confirm that I can get to my funds. The transaction was processed extremely promptly by PokerStars and everything went through in Canada no problem. So well done Stars. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward.
So that was encouraging. When the money arrived I put it into my bank account that has my live bankroll. I will keep live and online br separate. I did transfer an amount equal to the wd from the live side to the online side. I plan to remove most of my Stars bankroll in the coming months, just leaving enough for the levels I play with enough to withstand a typical downswing. I still plan to play on Stars, in fact probably more with the "matching" contributions from the live bankroll side.
The nice thing about getting online bankroll into my own bank account is I can use the same backing money on multiple sites. For example suppose I want to play $10 MTT on PokerStars and PartyPoker. If I use a 1% guideline that would suggest having $1000 on both sites. However the common backing bankroll can be used on both sites. For example with $1000 in my online bankroll in my own bank account. I could have just $100 on Stars and Party and be properly rolled to play $10 MTT on both sites.
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